How important is this chitosan. It comes in all the kits I have made (at
least 70) and I always use it but in the kit I started yesterday (Barolo)
the bag this stuff comes in was broken. Thanks Dave

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Contact the manufacturer or the seller. They will send you a new one. The
kit was designed to use it so why not?

Ray

"Dave Planche" > wrote in message
news:QP9Zb.565274$X%5.68862@pd7tw2no...
> How important is this chitosan. It comes in all the kits I have made (at
> least 70) and I always use it but in the kit I started yesterday (Barolo)
> the bag this stuff comes in was broken. Thanks Dave
>
> --
>
>
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It is a fining agent, used to clear the wine. In my experience, if
you're willing to bulk age the wine for 3 or 4 months it will clear on
its own and not require the chitosan.

Kit manufacturers include it because so many of their customers want
to bottle in 4-8 weeks rather than months, and include far more fining
agents per litre of wine than any "normal" winemakers would ever use.
There seems to be general consensus that fining the hell out of your
wine rather than letting it clear with time will no doubt strip at
least some flavour/aroma/color compounds out of the wine, but it is
debatable just how much. The one time that I did side-by-side trials
(making the same kit the "patient" way vs the "fast" way) I couldn't
really tell any difference.

The one thing that *does* make a huge difference in these kits,
especially the premium-priced ones, is to age the wine for at least
12-18 months before consuming -- especially if using Red Star Premier
Cuvee yeasts, as is often included in these kits. Any early than that
and you're not experiencing anything close to the maximum quality.
And if you're willing to do that, you might as well let it spend the
first 3-6 months bulk aging in the carboy and not bother with the
chitosan.

Cheers!

Richard

"Dave Planche" > wrote in message news:<QP9Zb.565274$X%5.68862@pd7tw2no>...
> How important is this chitosan. It comes in all the kits I have made (at
> least 70) and I always use it but in the kit I started yesterday (Barolo)
> the bag this stuff comes in was broken. Thanks Dave

Thanks I will bulk age.

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"Richard Kovach" > wrote in message
m...
> It is a fining agent, used to clear the wine. In my experience, if
> you're willing to bulk age the wine for 3 or 4 months it will clear on
> its own and not require the chitosan.
>
> Kit manufacturers include it because so many of their customers want
> to bottle in 4-8 weeks rather than months, and include far more fining
> agents per litre of wine than any "normal" winemakers would ever use.
> There seems to be general consensus that fining the hell out of your
> wine rather than letting it clear with time will no doubt strip at
> least some flavour/aroma/color compounds out of the wine, but it is
> debatable just how much. The one time that I did side-by-side trials
> (making the same kit the "patient" way vs the "fast" way) I couldn't
> really tell any difference.
>
> The one thing that *does* make a huge difference in these kits,
> especially the premium-priced ones, is to age the wine for at least
> 12-18 months before consuming -- especially if using Red Star Premier
> Cuvee yeasts, as is often included in these kits. Any early than that
> and you're not experiencing anything close to the maximum quality.
> And if you're willing to do that, you might as well let it spend the
> first 3-6 months bulk aging in the carboy and not bother with the
> chitosan.
>
> Cheers!
>
> Richard
>
> "Dave Planche" > wrote in message
news:<QP9Zb.565274$X%5.68862@pd7tw2no>...
> > How important is this chitosan. It comes in all the kits I have made (at
> > least 70) and I always use it but in the kit I started yesterday
(Barolo)
> > the bag this stuff comes in was broken. Thanks Dave